Tag Archives: Minnesota Twins

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game One Hundred Fifty-seven

KANSAS CITY 5, MINNESOTA 0 IN KANSAS CITY

Date:  Saturday, September 26.

Batting stars:  Leo Cardenas was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk.  Rick Renick was 1-for-3 with a walk.

Pitching stars:  Pete Hamm pitched two shutout innings, giving up a hit and a walk and striking out one.  Steve Barber pitched two perfect innings and struck out one.

Opposition stars:  Bob Johnson pitched a complete game shutout, giving up four hits and three walks and striking out eight.  Cookie Rojas was 3-for-4.  Amos Otis was 2-for-5 with a double.  Bob Oliver was 1-for-4 with a home run (his twenty-seventh) and two RBIs.

The game:  All the scoring came early.  In the first, Otis singled, George Spriggs walked, Lou Piniella had an RBI single, and a ground out scored another, making it 2-0 Royals.  In the second Rojas and Tommy Matchick singled, a bunt moved them to second and third, and Spriggs delivered a two-run single.  Oliver homered in the third to make it 5-0.

And that was it.  The Twins got a one-out double from Cardenas in the first.  They had men on first and second with none out in the fifth on a walk and a hit batsman.  Their biggest threat came in the seventh, when Rick Dempsey walked, Renick singled, and a wild pitch moved the runners to second and third with none out.  But a foul pop, a strikeout, and a ground out ended the inning.

WP:  Johnson (8-12).

LP:  Bert Blyleven (10-9).

S:  None.

Notes:  Jim Nettles was in left field in place of Brant Alyea.  Jim Holt was in center field in place of Cesar Tovar.  Paul Ratliff was at catcher in place of George Mitterwald.  Rick Renick was at third base in place of Harmon Killebrew.  Danny Thompson was at second base in place of Rod Carew.

Carew pinch-hit for Blyleven in the third inning.  Charlie Manuel pinch-hit for Thompson in the fifth and stayed in the game in left field, with Frank Quilici replacing Nettles and going to second base.  Tovar pinch-hit for Hal Haydel.  Rick Dempsey went in to catch in the fifth, replacing Ratliff.  Alyea pinch-hit for Hamm in the seventh.

Carew was 0-for-1 and was batting .372.  Tony Oliva was 1-for-4 and was batting .321.

Dempsey was 0-for-1 and was batting zero.  Manuel was 0-for-2 and was batting .193.  Hamm pitched two shutout innings and had an ERA of 5.28.

Blyleven pitched just two innings, giving up four runs on five hits and two walks and striking out none.

The Twins some relievers who hadn't pitched for quite a while.  Haydel hadn't pitched since September 12.  Hamm hadn't pitched since August 23, although he may have appeared in some minor league games.  Barber hadn't pitched in the majors since July 26, although he presumably was pitching in the minors.  The minor league seasons ended around Labor Day, though, so it had still been a while.

I probably knew this at the time and forgot it, but Dempsey is the uncle of long-time major league catcher Gregg Zaun.

Record:  The Twins were 95-62, in first place in the American League West, 8.5 games ahead of Oakland.

 

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game One Hundred Fifty-six

MINNESOTA 1, KANSAS CITY 0 IN KANSAS CITY

Date:  Friday, September 25.

Batting star:  Steve Brye was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk.

Pitching star:  Jim Perry pitched a complete game shutout, giving up two hits and no walks and striking out seven.

Opposition stars:  Cookie Rojas was 2-for-3.  Wally Bunker pitched a complete game, giving up one run on four hits and two walks and striking out one.

The game:  Neither team got a hit until the fourth.  Leo Cardenas led off the inning with a walk, went to second on a Harmon Killebrew single, and scored on a Brye double to give the Twins a 1-0 lead.

And that was it.  Neither team got a man past first base after that.  Both Royals hits were singles by Rojas.  He got one leading off the sixth and he got one with two out in the eighth.

WP:  Perry (24-12).

LP:  Bunker (2-11).

S:  None.

Notes:  Jim Nettles was in center field in place of Cesar Tovar.  Brye was in left in place of Brant Alyea.  Rick Dempsey was behind the plate in place of George Mitterwald.  Danny Thompson was at second base in place of Rod Carew.

Frank Quilici went to second base in the fifth inning, with Thompson moving to shortstop and Cardenas coming out of the game.

Tony Oliva was 0-for-4 and was batting .322.  Nettles was 1-for-4 and was batting .308.  Perry had an ERA of 2.96.

Dempsey was 0-for-3 and was batting zero.

With the division clinched, Bill Rigney obviously gave some guys a day off.  The only ones who really needed the rest, though, were Tovar and Cardenas.  The others had plenty of time off during the season.  Oliva and Killebrew, who had played nearly every game, remained in the lineup.

You see that Bunker was 2-11 and you might think he was awful, but he wasn't.  He wasn't great, but his ERA was 4.22 and his WHIP was 1.31.  One suspects that the Royals simply didn't score runs for him.

This was the first of seven games against the Royals to close out the season.

Record:  The Twins were 95-61, in first place in the American League West, 9.5 games ahead of Oakland.

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game One Hundred Fifty-five

MINNESOTA 7, OAKLAND 4 IN OAKLAND

Date:  Wednesday, September 23.

Batting stars:  Tony Oliva was 3-for-4 with three runs.  George Mitterwald was 2-for-4 with a three-run homer, his fifteenth.  Jim Holt was 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs.  Jim Nettles was 2-for-5.

Pitching star:  Bill Zepp retired all four men he faced.

Opposition stars:  Bert Campaneris was 1-for-5 with a home run, his twenty-second.  Dave Duncan was 1-for-3 with a three-run homer (his tenth) and a walk.  Marcel Lachemann struck out two in two perfect innings.

The game:  Nettles led off the game with a single.  With one out, Oliva singled and Harmon Killebrew walked, loading the bases.  With two out, Holt delivered a two-run double, putting the Twins in front 2-0.  In the third, Oliva and Holt singled and Mitterwald hit a two-out three-run homer, making it 5-0 Twins.  It went to 7-0 in the seventh.  With one out, Leo Cardenas doubled, Oliva singled, and Killebrew walked, loading the bases, and Rich Reese came through with a two-run single.

Over the first six innings the Athletics drew seven walks, but did not score because they had no hits.  That changed in the seventh when Campaneris homered.  In the eighth Don Mincher and Sal Bando walked and Duncan hit a three-run homer, cutting the lead to 7-4.  But that was as good as it got for them, and the Twins had another victory.

WP:  Hall (10-6).

LP:  Catfish Hunter (17-14).

S:  Zepp (2).

Notes:  Nettles was in left field in place of Brant Alyea.  Holt was in center field in place of Cesar Tovar.  Danny Thompson was at second base in place of Rod Carew.  Tovar pinch-ran for Killebrew in the seventh, with Frank Quilici going to third base.  Herman Hill replaced Tony Oliva in right field in the seventh.

Nettles was batting .333.  Oliva was batting .324.  Hall had an ERA of 2.69.  Hill was 0-for-1 and was batting .095.

Oddly, for the day after a clincher, the Twins used pretty much their regular lineup.  The only major change was Nettles in the outfield rather than Tovar.

Hall pitched 7.2 innings.  He gave up only two hits, both home runs.  He struck out nine, but he also walked nine.

Hunter pitched 6.1 innings for Oakland.  He allowed seven runs on eleven hits and a walk and struck out six.

The Twins would finish up their road trip with three games in Kansas City.  They would then come home for a season-ending four-game series, also with Kansas City, meaning they would end the season with seven games against the Royals.  That seems like really odd scheduling to me.

Record:  The Twins were 94-61, in first place in the American League West, 9.5 games ahead of Oakland.

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game One Hundred Fifty-four

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MINNESOTA 5, OAKLAND 3 IN OAKLAND

Date:  Tuesday, September 22.

Batting stars:  Tony Oliva was 3-for-5 with a two-run homer (his twenty-third), a double, a stolen base (his fifth), and three runs.  Rich Reese was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk.

Pitching stars:  Jim Kaat pitched five innings, giving up one run on six hits and two walks and striking out three.  Ron Perranoski pitched 3.2 innings, giving up one run on three hits and a walk.

Opposition stars:  Joe Rudi was 5-for-5 with two doubles.  Bert Campaneris was 2-for-5 with a double, a stolen base (his forty-second), and two runs.  Sal Bando was 0-for-0 with four walks.  Paul Lindblad pitched 2.1 scoreless innings, giving up two hits and a walk and striking out one.

The game:  Cesar Tovar led off with a walk and Oliva hit a two-run homer to give the Twins a quick 2-0 lead.  The Athletics loaded the bases with two out in the bottom of the first but did not score.  Campaneris led off the third with a double and Rudi followed with an RBI single to cut the lead to 2-1.  Oakland had men on first ands second with two out, but did not score.

The Twins stretched their lead in the sixth.  Oliva singled, Harmon Killebrew walked, and Reese reached on an error, loading the bases.  Jim Holt then delivered a two-run single, putting the Twins up 4-1.  Oakland got one back in the bottom of the sixth when Bando walked, went to third on Dave Duncan's single, and scored on a sacrifice fly.

The Twins got a three-run lead again in the seventh on doubles by Oliva and Reese.  The Athletics tried to come back in the ninth.  Campaneris singled, stole second, and scored on Rudi's single, making it 5-3 and bringing the tying run to the plate with two out.  But Felipe Alou grounded out to end the game.

WP:  Kaat (13-10).

LP:  Chuck Dobson (16-14).

S:  Perranoski (32).

Notes:  Holt was in center field, with Tovar moving to left and Brant Alyea on the bench.  Paul Ratliff was behind the plate in place of George Mitterwald.  Danny Thompson remained at second base in place of Rod Carew.

Carew pinch-hit for Kaat in the sixth.  Tom Tischinski went behind the plate in the seventh in place of Ratliff.  Frank Quilici went to third base in place of Killebrew in the ninth.

Carew was 0-for-1 and was batting .374. Oliva was batting .321.  Tovar was 1-for-4 and was batting .300.  Stan Williams gave up a run in a third of an inning and had an ERA of 2.07.  Perranoski had an ERA of 2.30.

Tischinski was 0-for-1 and was batting .196.

This was the first appearance for Carew since he was injured exactly three months earlier.

This was the clincher for the Twins.  They had won back-to-back division championships.  It will be interesting to see what their lineup looks like in the next game.

Record:  The Twins were 93-61, in first place in the American League West, 8.5 games ahead of Oakland.

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game One Hundred Fifty-three

OAKLAND 6, MINNESOTA 0 IN OAKLAND

Date:  Monday, September 21.

Batting star:  Harmon Killebrew was 0-for-2 with a walk.

Pitching star:  Jim Perry pitched an eight-inning complete game, giving up six runs (two earned) on nine hits and five walks and striking out three.

Opposition stars:  Vida Blue pitched a no-hitter, striking out nine and giving up a walk.  Don Mincher was 2-for-3 with a hit-by-pitch.  Bert Campaneris was 2-for-5 with a three-run homer (his twenty-first), a triple, and two runs.

The game:  Once you've said "Vida Blue pitched a no-hitter", there's not a lot more to say.  The Athletics got on the board in the second when Campaneris tripled and scored on a double play grounder.  The Twins lone baserunner, Killebrew, reached on a two-out walk in the fourth inning.

It was still 1-0 through seven, but Oakland broke it open in the eighth.  Mincher led off with a single and Sal Bando followed with a single-plus-error, scoring Mincher and leaving Bando on third.  With one out, Gene Tenace was intentionally walked.  Dick Green had an RBI single, a bunt moved the runners up, and Campaneris hit a three-run homer, giving the Athletics a 6-0 lead.

WP:  Blue (2-0).

LP:  Perry (23-12).

S:  None.

Notes:  Rick Renick was at third base, with Killebrew moving to first and Rich Reese on the bench.  Danny Thompson was at second base in place of Rod Carew.  Jim Holt went to center field in the eighth, with Cesar Tovar moving to left and Brant Alyea coming out.  Bob Allison pinch-hit for Perry in the ninth.

Tony Oliva was 0-for-3 and was batting .319.  Tovar was 0-for-4 and was batting .300.

I wondered about Perry throwing a complete game, but it was still 1-0 going to the eighth.  I still don't think it was very smart to have him pitch that much this late in the season, with the playoffs just around the corner, but it was a different time then, and the closeness of the game makes it less egregious.

Blue had come up as a September call-up.  This was his fourth start, and his second complete game shutout.  He had appeared in twelve games in 1969, four of them starts.  He made a total of six starts in 1970, and went 2-0, 2.09, 0.83 WHIP.  He struck out 35 in 38.2 innings and had a FIP of 1.89.  He was only twenty, but I think it's safe to say he was ready for the majors.  This would be the only complete game no-hitter he would have.  He was part of a combined no-hitter in 1975, throwing five innings.

Allison had a batting average of .211.  Perry, whom he pitch-hit for, had an average of .250.  That is not in any way intended to indicate that I think it was wrong to send Allison up there.  I just thought it was interesting.

The loss kept the Twins from clinching the division.

Record:  The Twins were 92-61, in first place in the American League West, 7.5 games ahead of Oakland.  Their magic number remained two.

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game One Hundred Fifty-two

MINNESOTA 8, CHICAGO 1 IN CHICAGO

Date:  Sunday, September 20.

Batting stars:  Cesar Tovar was 3-for-5 with a double, a stolen base (his thirtieth), and two runs.  Jim Holt was 3-for-5 with a double.  Tony Oliva was 3-for-5.  Paul Ratliff was 2-for-4 with a home run (his fourth), a walk, and two RBIs.  Rich Reese was 2-for-5.

Pitching star:  Bert Blyleven pitched a complete game, giving up one run on three hits and one walk and striking out four.

Opposition star:  Ed Herrmann was 2-for-3.

The game:  Ratliff homered in the second to give the Twins a 1-0 lead.  Bill Melton led off the second with a double and scored on Herrmann's single to tie it 1-1.

It was all Twins after that.  In the third Tovar singled, stole second, went to third on a passed ball, and scored on a ground out to put the Twins up 2-1.  In the fourth Harmon Killebrew singled, went to third on a Holt double, and scored on a ground out to make it 3-1.  In the fifth Tovar doubled, Leo Cardenas reached on a sacrifice/fielders' choice, putting men on first and third, Oliva singled in a run, and yet another run scored on a ground out to make it 5-1.

The Twins put it away in the seventh.  With two out Killebrew walked, followed by consecutive singles by Reese, Holt, and Ratliff, bringing in three runs and making the score 8-1.

The White Sox had only one hit after the second inning, and that runner was erased by a double play.

WP:  Blyleven (10-8).

LP:  Gerry Janeski (10-16).

S:  None.

Notes:  Holt was in center field, with Tovar moving to left.  Ratliff was behind the plate in place of George Mitterwald.  Danny Thompson was at second base in place of Rod Carew.  Frank Quilici went to third base in the seventh inning in place of Killebrew.

Oliva was batting .320.  Tovar was batting .302.

Since Carew went out, Bill Rigney's standard defensive move was to put Quilici at second base and move Thompson to third.  In this game, for some reason, he left Thompson at second and put Quilici at third.  Maybe he just wanted to get Quilici a little practice at third base in case a situation came up where he was needed there in the playoffs.  Is it a big deal?  No.  It just seems kind of odd.

This was Gerry Janeski's only full season as a rotation starter.  He went 10-17, 4.77, 1.51 WHIP.  He was only twenty-four, though, and one would think leaving him in the rotation all year meant the White Sox thought he was a promising young player.  Instead, they traded him after the season for Rick Reichardt.  He pitched poorly for them in a half-season, was sent to AAA, and stayed there through 1974, making only four more appearances in the majors.  His career numbers are 11-23, 4.73, 1.55 WHIP.

Oakland lost to California 4-2, so the Twins lowered their magic number by two.  It gave them the chance to clinch the division the next day, when they played at Oakland.

Record:  The Twins were 92-60, in first place in the American League West, 8.5 games ahead of Oakland.

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game One Hundred Fifty-one

MINNESOTA 5, CHICAGO 3 IN CHICAGO

Date:  Saturday, September 19.

Batting star:  Brant Alyea was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk.

Pitching stars:  Tom Hall struck out nine in seven innings, giving up three runs on five hits and three walks.  Stan Williams pitched two shutout innings, striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Luis Aparicio was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer (his fifth).  Tommy John pitched seven innings, giving up four runs (three earned) on five hits and four walks and striking out one.

The game:  The White Sox had men on first and second with one out in the first but did not score.  In the second Alyea doubled and scored on a Rick Renick single to put the Twins up 1-0.

Chicago took the lead in the third when Syd O'Brien walked and Aparicio hit a two-run homer, making it 2-1 White Sox.  The Twins had two on with two out in the fifth and did not score.  In the sixth Duane Josephson doubled and scored on Ken Berry's single to make it 3-1 Chicago.

The Twins came back in the eighth.  Walks to George Mitterwald and Danny Thompson were followed by a Bob Allison RBI single.  An error tied the score and a walk to Leo Cardenas loaded the bases.  Harmon Killebrew hit a sacrifice fly to put the Twins ahead and Alyea hit a run-scoring single to make it 5-3 Minnesota.

Josephson drew a leadoff walk in the ninth, bringing the tying run to the plate.  The next three batters went out, however, and the Twins had the win.

WP:  Hall (9-6).

LP:  Tommy John (11-16).

S:  Williams (15).

Notes:  Renick was at third base, with Killebrew moving to first and Rich Reese on the bench.  Thompson was at second base in place of Rod Carew.

Rick Dempsey pinch-ran for Mitterwald in the eighth.  Tom Tischinski came in to catch.  Allison pinch-hit for Hall in the eighth, with Herman Hill pinch-running for Allison.  Jim Holt pinch-ran for Alyea in the eighth and stayed in the game in center field, with Cesar Tovar moving to left.  Rich Reese went to first base in the eighth, replacing Killebrew.  Frank Quilici went to third base in the eighth, with Renick coming out as part of a double switch.

Tony Oliva was 1-for-4 and was batting .318.  Tovar was 0-for-5 and was batting .300.  Alyea was batting .300, his first time at .300 since May 17.  Hall had an ERA of 2.58.  Williams had an ERA of 1.99.

I couldn't figure out a quick way to find this out, but I suspect this is one of a very few times in his career that Rick Dempsey was used as a pinch-runner.  I had assumed, when I first saw that, that he was chosen to pinch-run so he could go in to catch, but then Tischinski went in to catch instead.  Surely, with expanded rosters, the Twins had a better pinch-runner than Dempsey available.

You look at Tommy John's 11-16 record, and you think he must had had a bad year.  But he had an ERA of 3.27 with a 1.31 WHIP.  He had ten complete games and three shutouts.  The White Sox had a poor offense that year, and one assumes that they simply didn't score very many runs for him.

The Athletics defeated California 2-1, so the Twins were only able to take one game off their magic number.

Record:  The Twins were 91-60, in first place in the American League West, 7.5 games ahead of Oakland.  Their magic number was four.

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game One Hundred Fifty

4 Comments

MINNESOTA 5, CHICAGO 4 IN CHICAGO

Date:  Friday, September 18.

Batting stars:  Jim Holt was 2-for-3 with a triple, a walk, and two RBIs.  Tony Oliva was 2-for-4.  Cesar Tovar was 2-for-4.

Pitching stars:  Bill Zepp pitched 6.1 innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk and striking out three.  Ron Perranoski pitched 2.2 innings, giving up one run on three hits and no walks and striking out two.

Opposition stars:  Bobby Knoop was 2-for-3 with a walk.  Bill Melton was 1-for-3 with a home run (his twenty-ninth) and two runs.  Don Eddy struck out four in two shutout innings, giving up a walk.

The game:  The Twins came out firing in the first.  Tovar led off with a single, Leo Cardenas walked, and Oliva delivered an RBI single.  The next two batters went out, but Holt hit a two-run triple, giving the Twins a 3-0 lead before the White Sox came to bat.

Chicago did come to bat, of course, and in the second they got back in the game.  Melton was hit by a pitch and went to third on Syd O'Brien's one-out double.  A ground out scored one run and Knoop single home another, cutting the Twins lead to 3-2.  But the Twins got the runs back in the third.  With two out Rich Reese singled and Brant Alyea and Holt walked, loading the bases.  George Mitterwald then delivered a two-run single to make it 5-2 Twins.

The White Sox got one back in the bottom of the third when Luis Aparicio tripled and scored on a ground out.  They had two on with two out in the fourth but did not score.  They had a man on second with none out in the seventh but did not score.  Melton homered in the eighth to make it 5-4.  Chicago had the tying run on second with two out in the eighth and on first with two out in the ninth, but neither reached home plate and the Twins had the victory.

WP:  Zepp (9-4).

LP:  Bart Johnson (3-6).

S:  Perranoski (31).

Notes:  Holt was in center field, with Tovar moving to third base and Harmon Killebrew again out of the lineup.  I don't know if Killebrew was injured or ill or was simply given a little time off with the division nearly settled.  Danny Thompson was at second base in place of Rod Carew.  Steve Brye went to left field in the seventh in place of Alyea.

Oliva was batting .318.  Tovar was batting .302.  Perranoski had an ERA of 2.30.

Brye was 0-for-1 and was batting .143.

Johnson was the starter for Chicago.  He pitched seven innings, giving up five runs (three earned) on eight hits and four walks and struck out four.

This was the start of a nine-game road trip:  three in Chicago, three in Oakland, and three in Kansas City.  It appeared likely that the Twins would clinch on the road.

Oakland defeated California 3-2, so the Twins' magic number was only reduced by one.

Record:  The Twins were 90-60, in first place in the American League West, 7.5 games ahead of Oakland.  Their magic number was five.

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game One Hundred Forty-nine

MINNESOTA 4, CALIFORNIA 3 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Thursday, September 17.

Batting stars:  Cesar Tovar was 2-for-3 with a triple, a walk, and two runs.  Leo Cardenas was 2-for-4 with a triple and two RBIs.

Pitching stars:  Jim Perry pitched 7.1 innings, giving up three runs on seven hits and one walk and striking out two.  Stan Williams pitched 1.2 innings, giving up one hit.

Opposition stars:  Tony Gonzalez was 2-for-4.  Lloyd Allen pitched two perfect innings, striking out one.

The game:  Tovar led off the bottom of the first with a triple and scored on a Cardenas single to put the Twins up 1-0.  In the third Tovar drew a one-out walk.  Cardenas followed with an RBI triple and Tony Oliva followed that with a run-scoring double, giving the Twins a 3-0 lead.  In the fourth George Mitterwald hit a one-out double and scored on a Danny Thompson single to make it 4-0.

The Angels did not advance a man past first base in the first five innings.  In the sixth Mickey Rivers drew a one-out walk and got to second on Gonzalez' single, but that was as far as he'd go.  In the seventh, California did get on the board, but missed a chance for more.  Alex Johnson was hit by a pitch and Jim Spencer doubled, putting men on second and third with none out.  Jay Johnstone hit an RBI ground out, but a strikeout and a foul out followed, so the Twins still had a 4-1 lead.

In the eighth, Bill Voss led off with a single and Gonzalez singled with one out.  Jim Fregosi followed with an RBI double and Johnson hit a sacrifice fly, making it 4-3 with the tying run on second.  Spencer flied out to end the inning.  In the ninth Mel Queen delivered a two-out pinch-hit single, but Voss flied out to end the game.

WP:  Perry (23-11).

LP:  Tom Murphy (14-13).

S:  Williams (14).

Notes:  Jim Holt was in center field, with Tovar moving to third base and Harmon Killebrew given a rare day off.  Charlie Manuel was given a rare start in left in place of Brant Alyea.  Thompson was at second in place of Rod Carew.  Herman Hill went to left in place of Manuel in the seventh.  Jim Nettles went to left in place of Hill in the ninth.

Oliva was 1-for-3 and was batting .317.  Tovar raised his average to .301, the first time he'd been over .300 since August 4.  Williams had an ERA of 2.03.

I don't know why Nettles replaced Hill in the ninth, unless Bill Rigney just wanted to get him in the game.  It does not appear that Hill was injured--he would be used in a game just two days later.  It could have been a minor injury, of course, and that he was removed as a precaution.  Not that it makes a lot of difference--it's just kind of a curious thing.

I have no idea why Angels manager Lefty Phillips used a pitcher, Mel Queen to pinch-hit in the ninth.  Queen was not a particularly good batter--his lifetime numbers are .179/.233/.226.  That's not bad for a pitcher, but it's bad for a batter.  The Angels had already used a number of bench players--Roger Repoz, Randy Brown, Mickey Rivers, and Bill Voss--but teams had bigger benches back then, and besides it was September, with expanded rosters.  In fact, Jarvis Tatum came in to pinch-run for Queen, so we know that he was available.  There had to be some others, too.  Using Queen as a pinch-hitter makes no sense to me at all.  But having said all that, it worked.  Queen got a pinch-hit single.  Does that mean that Phillips made a smart move, or does it mean that he got lucky?  Who knows?  But the payoff is always in results, and the result was good, whether I think it was dumb thing to do or not.

Oakland did not play, so the Twins gained a half game in the standings.

Record:  The Twins were 89-60, in first place in the American League West, 7.5 games ahead of Oakland.  Their magic number was six.

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game One Hundred Forty-eight

CALIFORNIA 5, MINNESOTA 1 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Wednesday, September 16.

Batting star:  George Mitterwald was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk.

Pitching stars:  Bert Blyleven struck out ten in 6.2 innings, giving up five runs (two earned) on eight hits and two walks.  Jim Kaat pitched 2.1 scoreless innings, giving up a hit and a walk and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Tony Gonzalez was 2-for-4.  Alex Johnson was 1-for-4 with a home run (his thirteenth), a walk, a stolen base (his thirteenth), and two runs.  Clyde Wright pitched a complete game, giving up one run on three hits and five walks and striking out three.

The game:  Neither team got a man past first until the fourth inning, when Johnson hit a home run to put the Angels up 1-0.  California had men on second and third with one out in the fifth but did not score.

In the sixth, however, the Angels broke through for three more runs.  Gonzalez led off with a single.  With one out, Johnson reached on an error and Ken McMullen delivered an RBI single.  A double steal put men on second and third and Jay Johnstone was intentionally walked.  A popup made it two out, but Bill Voss reached on an error, bringing home two runs and making the score 4-0.

The Twins looked like they might get back into the game in the bottom of the sixth.  Cesar Tovar led off with a single and Leo Cardenas and Harmon Killebrew walked, loading the bases with none out.  But Tony Oliva popped up, Rick Renick hit into a run-scoring force out, and Bob Allison grounded out, leaving the Twins trailing 4-1.

California added a run in the seventh on singles by Gonzalez, Jim Fregosi, and Chico Ruiz.  The Twins had only one hit after the sixth.

WP:  Wright (20-11).

LP:  Blyleven (9-8).

S:  None.

Notes:  Renick was at third base, with Killebrew moving to first and Rich Reese on the bench.  Allison was in left field in place of Brant Alyea.  Frank Quilici was at second base in place of Rod Carew.  Steve Brye went to left field in place of Allison as part of a double switch in the seventh.  Rick Dempsey pinch-hit for Quilici in the eighth, with Danny Thompson going to second base.  Cotton Nash pinch-hit for Kaat in the ninth.

Tony Oliva was 0-for-4 and was batting .317.  Brye was 0-for-1 and was batting .167.  Nash was 0-for-1 and was batting zero.  Dempsey was 0-for-1 and was batting zero.

This was Dempsey's first appearance in 1970.  He had appeared in five games in 1969.

Bill Rigney apparently had very little confidence in any of his relievers other than Perranoski and Williams.  He had used both of them in both games of the doubleheader yesterday, and now went to Kaat in this game.

Oakland defeated Milwaukee 4-1, so the Twins magic number remained the same.

Record:  The Twins were 88-60, in first place in the American League West, seven games ahead of Oakland.  Their magic number was seven.